Will.I.Am and Frank Turner take on Michael Buble in albums battle

Michael Buble faces tough competition from Frank Turner and Will.I.Am if he wants to hold on to Number 1 on this week’s Official Albums Chart.

Michael Buble has a fight on his hands if he wants to spend a second week at Number 1. The Canadian crooner, whose latest full length, To Be Loved, became the fastest selling artist release of 2013 last week, is ahead of his closest rivals Frank Turner and Will.I.Am by a tight margin of less than 12,000 copies at this midway stage.

London-based singer-songwriter Frank Turner, who performed during the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games, is currently Number 2 with fourth album Tape Deck Heart. Turner’s previous highest charting album was 2011’s England Keep My Bones which peaked at Number 12.

Meanwhile Black Eyed Peas main man and The Voice coach Will.I.Am’s fourth solo album, #Willpower, debuts at Number 3 on today’s Official Albums Chart Update. #Willpower has already spawned four Official Singles Chart Top 40 hits (including the Number 1s This Is Love FT Eva Simons and Scream And Shout FT Britney Spears).

Find out who comes out on top this Sunday on the Official Chart show with Jameela Jamil on BBC Radio 1 from 4pm, and see the full Official Albums Chart Top 100 on www.officialcharts.com from 7pm.

The Official Albums Chart Update Top 5 is rounded off with Emeli Sande’s Our Version Of Events (Number 4) and Pink’s The Truth About Love dropping to 5.

New entries and high climbers

In addition to Frank Turner’s Tape Deck Heart (Number 2) and Will.I.Am’s #Willpower (3), there are three new entries on this week’s Official Albums Chart Update.

French band Phoenix, whose fifth album Bankrupt! is currently at Number 8, and looks set to give the band their first Top 40 album. Rob Zombie’s Venomous Rat Regeneration Chamber currently stands at Number 22. The artist formally known as Snoop Dogg, sees his reggae rebirth as Snoop Lion enter at 26 with Reincarnation, and veteran rockers Whitesnake’s CD/DVD package Live In Japan is new in at 33.

Also set to return to the Official Albums Chart Top 40 on Sunday is Daft Punk’s 2001 album Discovery (27), and after their appearance on Graham Norton’s show at the weekend, Hurts’ Exile climbs 27 places to 34.

The Official Albums Chart Update Top 40 is as follows:

1	TO BE LOVED	MICHAEL BUBLE
2	TAPE DECK HEART	FRANK TURNER
3	WILLPOWER	WILL I AM
4	OUR VERSION OF EVENTS	EMELI SANDE
5	THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE	PINK
6	THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE	JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
7	BANKRUPT	PHOENIX
8	SAVE ROCK AND ROLL	FALL OUT BOY
9	BAD BLOOD	BASTILLE
10	UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX	BRUNO MARS
11	18 MONTHS	CALVIN HARRIS
12	NIGHT VISIONS	IMAGINE DRAGONS
13	PARAMORE	PARAMORE
14	GRAFFITI ON THE TRAIN	STEREOPHONICS
15	BAT OUT OF HELL	MEAT LOAF
16	NUMBER 3	SCRIPT
17	BABEL	MUMFORD & SONS
18	THE LUMINEERS	LUMINEERS
19	TAKE ME HOME	ONE DIRECTION
20	EVERY KINGDOM	BEN HOWARD
21	HALCYON	ELLIE GOULDING
22	VENOMOUS RAT REGENERATION VENDOR	ROB ZOMBIE
23	THE NEXT DAY	DAVID BOWIE
24	LES MISERABLES	MOTION PICTURE CAST RECORDING
25	RED	TAYLOR SWIFT
26	REINCARNATED	SNOOP LION
27	DISCOVERY	DAFT PUNK
28	JAKE BUGG	JAKE BUGG
29	UNAPOLOGETIC	RIHANNA
30	DELETED SCENES FROM THE CUTTING ROOM	CARO EMERALD
31	THE HEIST	MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS
32	RIGHT PLACE RIGHT TIME	OLLY MURS
33	MADE IN JAPAN	WHITESNAKE
34	EXILE	HURTS
35	MOSQUITO	YEAH YEAH YEAHS
36	SING TO THE MOON	LAURA MVULA
37	UP ALL NIGHT	ONE DIRECTION
38	OPPOSITES	BIFFY CLYRO
39	ALL THE LITTLE LIGHTS	PASSENGER
40	HOLY FIRE	FOALS